The Anonymous Widower

Is This Healey’s Magic Money Tree?

It looks to me that Healey has found a Magic Money Tree, which does the following.

  • Saves the welfare budget.
  • Allows him to abolish standing charges on gas bills.
  • Allows him to take VAT off electricity bills.
  • Allows him to give £100 to 20,000,000 householders.
  • The Kyiv Independent has a headline of UK Announces ‘Biggest Ever’ Ukraine Support Package Of $13 Billion In 2027.
  • He seems committed to increasing defence spending.
  • Setting up the National Agentic Security Unit will cost millions.

Is this the Magic Money Tree?

  • Jackdaw’s gas goes to St. Fergus as planned!
  • One leg of AquaVentus, which is a German system of pipes and wires, that brings green hydrogen and electricity from around the North Sea to Wilhelmshaven could start at the St. Fergus Gas Terminal.
  • Other legs of AquaVentus are planned to start in Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands.
  • Two H2 molecules can be extracted from each gas molecule, as methane is CH4.
  • One way is a process called HiiROC that was developed in Hull, which is backed by big names including Cemex, Centrica, Hyundai, INEOS, Kia and Melrose.
  • HiiROC is five times more energy efficient than traditional electrolysis.
  • The Aberdeen area is not short of green electricity, given the large number of offshore wind farms.
  • Germany gets the hydrogen to decarbonise, through the pipes of AquaVentus.
  • The wires of AquaVentus could also take green electricity to Germany.
  • Germany has run out of space in their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for more turbines.
  • But as our EEZ is 23 times the size of Germany’s, we have enough to rent out space for German wind turbines.
  • The route of AquaVentus will use the UK EEZ and could export energy from existing and planned UK wind farms.
  • When the EEZs were drawn up, a corridor was left between the German and UK zones, where pipes and wires could be laid to transfer energy between the two countries.
  • Burnham visited Merz a few weeks ago and nothing was said about energy to the media.
  • But did they put together an energy deal to give Germany the green energy it needs?
  • Chris O’Shea is CEO of Centrica and has several professional connections to Burnham from his Manchester days and the recent Labour Conference.

If Germany should be getting all this green energy, Healey will surely be getting loadsaeuros in return.

These are some further thoughts.

EEZ Of The UK And Neighbouring Coastal States

If you like to know more about EEZs or Exclusive Economic Zones, they have a Wikipedia entry, which includes these two statements.

  • The idea of allotting nations’ EEZs to give them more control of maritime affairs outside territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century.
  • It was not until 1982 with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone was formally adopted.

This is possibly, the most significant map concerning the future of the UK.

Note.

  1. The UK EEZ is shown in bright blue.
  2. The UK EEZ was setup by David Cameron’s government in 2014.
  3. Much of the UK EEZ stretches a full 200 nautical miles from the coast.
  4. Germany’s EEZ is indicated by DE.
  5. The UK EEZ is 23 times the size of Germany’s.
  6. There is a narrow corridor between the UK and German EEZs, which goes between the Dutch and Danish EEZs, which was the result of an expensive legal battle and gives Germany access to the North Sea.
  7. Wilhelmshaven is about in the mid-point of the North-facing part of the German coast.
  8. But the corridor could most-likely be the route of the Aquaventus pipes and wires system between Aberdeen and Wilhelmshaven  via Humberside.

Whichever way you look at it, the UK did incredibly well, when EEZs were allocated.

The Route Of AquaVentus To The UK

This map shows the border between the UK and German EEZs.

Note.

  1. The North-East corner of Scotland is clearly visible in the North-West corner of the map.
  2. The corridor between the UK and German EEZs is clearly visible.
  3. The corridor points at the North-East corner of Scotland.
  4. Wilhelmshaven is on the round estuary on the German coast.
  5. AquaVentus has a preferred route via Humberside, which looks feasible.

If an AquaVentus leg ran between the German EEZ and the North-East corner of Scotland, it would be totally in the UK EEZ, which would probably simplify any negotiations.

Could AquaVentus Make Use Of The UK’s Energy Storage?

Consider.

  • Various companies are building three or four large pumped storage hydro systems in the Highlands of Scotland.
  • There are two large gas storage facilities; Aldbrough and Rough on Humberside, which could be converted to hydrogen storage.

Energy storage would surely add functionality to AquaVentus.

 

Does Germany Import Nuclear Energy Through Interconnectors?

Germany doesn’t have any nuclear power stations, but does it import nuclear energy?

I asked Google AI, thquestion in the title of this section, and received this answer.

Yes, Germany imports electricity that originates from nuclear power plants in neighboring countries via cross-border high-voltage interconnectors.

Key Facts on Nuclear Imports via Interconnectors

Zero Domestic Generation: Germany completed the shutdown of its last domestic nuclear power reactors in April 2023 and produces zero nuclear electricity locally.

Integrated European Grid: Electricity in Europe flows through a shared, interconnected network based on market prices, supply, and demand rather than national political borders.

Sources of Nuclear Imports: When Germany imports electricity—such as from France, Switzerland, or Belgium—a portion of that power mix comes from nuclear generation.

Rising Import Volumes: Estimates by DataPulse Research via Visual Capitalist indicate that Germany’s estimated nuclear electricity imports rose to roughly 18,313 GWh in 2024 following the complete nuclear phaseout.

It appears that so long as they don’t build any nuclear power stations, it’s OK!

What Will Be The Route Of AquaVentus From Denmark, Norway And The Netherlands?

The exact routes have not been decided, but if you look at the map of the EEZ Of The UK And Neighbouring Coastal States, it appears, that nearly all of the routes of the pipes and wires, will lie within the UK EEZ.

The hydrogen and electricity may have not been generated by the UK, but it has come through our EEV.

It looks to me, that we have those Europeans screwed, glued and tattooed.

Germany Has Run Out Of Space In Their Exclusive Economic Zone For More Wind Farms

So they have come up with a plan, where they rent space in the EEZs of other countries and then bring the energy as either green hydrogen or electricity, back to Germany using the pipes and wires of AquaVentus.

Could Dogger Bank South Wind Farm Be Connected To AquaVentus?

Consider.

  • It will be a pair of two 1,500 MW wind farms
  • They are two of the furthest East UK wind farms and are not far from the border between the UK and German EEZs.
  • They are being developed by German company ; RWE.
  • They are currently to be connected to the UK grid at Birkhill Wood in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

But if it were more convenient or affordable could the two wind farms be connected to AquaVentus and send their green energy to Germany?

Conclusion

AquaVentus will bring Germany the energy it needs from around the North Sea.

And Chancellor Healey will have a long-lasting Magic Money Tree.

 

 

October 28, 2026 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BOEM Links Up With US Department of Defense On Offshore Wind

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the coordinated development of offshore wind on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

These three paragraphs give more details of the agreement.

The agreement calls for DOD and BOEM to find mutual solutions that support renewable energy in a manner compatible with essential military operations.

The MoU also requires the organizations to collaborate early in the offshore wind leasing process and maintain regular communication at all levels.

Additionally, the agreement calls for DOD and BOEM to determine what areas should be deferred from leasing to enable the performance of DOD activities on the OCS.

I feel this is a very sensible agreement, as time progress, I’m sure that the co-operation will lead to several joint projects.

  • Support boats ensuring safety, like the deal between Ørsted and the RNLI, that I talked about in Ørsted Evolves Long-Standing Partnership With RNLI,
  • Offshore structures like electrolysers and substations could have a secondary use as military training facilities.
  • Smaller ships, like minehunters, coastguard cutters and fishery protection vessels could go electric and the wind farms could provide charging facilities.

If the United States Navy are hanging around the wind farms, it might discourage Putin’s friends.

Wind farms and the US military could be good neighbours.

Brendan Owens, who is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, said this.

We will continue to work with BOEM and our other interagency partners, to find solutions that enable offshore wind development while ensuring long-term compatibility with testing, training, and operations critical to our military readiness.

Other nations with large amounts of continental shelf and ambitions to install large amounts of offshore wind like Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK could do worse that follow the American strategy.

October 30, 2024 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Should Starbucks Pay More Tax?

As a High Street company I would prefer that they set up a system like Waitrose has done with Community Matters, where local charities are chosen by customers to benefit from a levy on takings.

After all, Governments have a record of wasting our taxes on things that a proportion of us don’t want. We all have our pet hates and mine is probably the money government wastes on defence and computer projects.

December 3, 2012 Posted by | Business, Computing, World | , , | 4 Comments

SNP Changes Defence Policy

The SNP appears to be changing its defence policy. It all goes to illustrate the difficulties they will face on so many issues.

I’m not against nuclear weapons, but with the threat from a large superpower unlikely, I don’t think we need something like Trident.  We perhaps need some some of retaliation weapon like submarine-launched nuclear missiles.

October 19, 2012 Posted by | News | , , , | Leave a comment

Our New Aircraft Carriers Won’t Have Any Aircraft!

The Sunday Times today says that the two follies of Gordon Brown’s tenure as Prime Minister won’t have any aircraft, as the new F35C, that have been chosen by the Coalition, can’t land on a carrier. There’s more about the F35C’s problems here. To be fair to the Coalition, they had little choice but to go for the C variant, after the B variant, which had a limited vertical take-off  and landing capability, was not performing well in test flying.

Perhaps though we’ll come up with a better solution, given that the British public won’t support another Iraq or Afghanistan.  We’ve also proven that for operations near home, such as Libya, that we don’t need carrier-based aircraft. In addition, we’ve also proven that attack helicopters can work very well off ships like HMS Ocean. Perhaps we need another ship like this one, which was built at a small fraction of the propsed cost of one of the new aircrsft csrriers.

January 15, 2012 Posted by | News | , | Leave a comment

Scot Nats Sink Prudence’s Aircraft Carriers

It looks like Prudence’s jobs bribe to Scotland of the manufacture of two unnecessary aircraft carriers has been sunk by the performance of the SNP in the elections yesterday. Labour voters have deserted the party in droves.

I watched the most unusual double act this morning on the television when Alex Salmond of the SNP and Annabel Goldie of the Scottish Conservatives had a forthright discussion on their cooperation in the future.

Scotland has a lot of problems, like funding the NHS and universities, poor health, too much drinking and creating worthwhile jobs that will last.

I wish the new government of Scotland a lot of luck.  They’ll need it.

I have said many times, that Gordon Brown will rank alongside Lord North as one of our worst Prime Ministers.  It would seem now that his country and his supposedly loyal supporters there have deserted his policies.

May 6, 2011 Posted by | Health, News, World | , , , | Leave a comment

How To Make Money From Light Bulbs

You sell them to the Ministry of Defence according to this report from the BBC.

It has always been thus?  I can remember stories like Lockheed selling toilet seats to the USAF for hundreds of dollars, when they could be bought for just a few dollars in many stores.

The military has always been a soft touch and not just in the UK.

March 4, 2011 Posted by | News | | Leave a comment

Brown’s Aircraft Carrier Too Many

The Times really lays into Gordon Brown this morning about the purchase of a second aircraft carrier, which more than likely will never be used by any fixed wing aircraft.

This was what greeted Gordon Brown this morning from the front page of The Times.

Taxpayers will have to pick up the £2.6 billion bill for the controversial aircraft carrier that will never carry jets because Gordon Brown agreed an “unbreakable” contract designed to protect shipbuilding jobs in Scotland.

Under a 15-year agreement signed with BAE Systems, the Labour Government guaranteed work for the company’s shipyards on the River Clyde and in Portsmouth.

This included the £5.2 billion contract to build two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, which David Cameron revealed this week that he was unable to cancel.

When the coalition looked at axing one of the carriers to save money, BAE responded that the Government would still have to pay shipworkers to do nothing for the remaining 12 years of the deal. However, at no point did Mr Cameron’s ministers seek to renegotiate the shipbuilding agreement with BAE, according to the company.

It looks like game, set and match to BAE!

As I said earlier, big contracts are too important for politicians to get involved.

What is also interesting is that despite all these bribes to his friends in heartland constituencies and trade unions, Brown still lost.  So we’re all having to pay for the idiot’s bribes and mismanagement!

It’s about time, politicians were made liable for some of their disasterous decisions and purchases.

October 22, 2010 Posted by | News | , , , | 1 Comment

Do We Need Trident?

Trident is going to cost £20 billion to replace and the government has announced that the MoD must find the full cost from its budget.  So if we renew it, other programs will have to be cut back.

I don’t think that we now need programs such as Trident! When we had an obvious enemy in the Cold War, it was different, but suppose some Iranian terrorists planned to let off a bomb in London, would being able to bomb Teheran deter them? Of course not! Perhaps all we need is a few submarine- or air-lauched cruise missiles, so that we could make sure that we got some revenge.

I also question other programs like the two aircraft carriers.  For the type of wars we would fight today, it would be better to stay with our current smaller ones and Harriers.

The trouble is that defence has nothing to do with what you need, it’s all about pride.  If say the French have nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers, our politicians feel, we should have them too.

It could be argued that the British intervention in Sierra Leone to help end the civil war there is a model for how our forces should be used to bring peace and stability to the world.  Have we got the right forces and equipment to do the same again?

July 30, 2010 Posted by | World | | Leave a comment

Defence Spending

A report in The Sunday Times says that British defence spending is out-of-control and actually harms the efficiency of the armed forces. A few damning paragraphs.

The author of the report, Bernard Gray, a leading businessman and former special adviser to Labour defence ministers, writes: “How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank?

“Why does it always seem to cost at least twice what was thought?

“Even worse, at the end of the wait, why does it never quite seem to do what it was supposed to?”

Was it though ever any different?  I have been involved in planning defence projects since the early 1970s and I’ve heard complaints of this nature all the time.  And not just from the British, but from high-up engineers in a major US defence contractor.

I’ve also spoken to senior military men, who have always had good reasons to believe that the armed services never really get the equipment, they need to do the job.  Usually it is over specified to do too many roles and hence so costly, that we can’t afford enough of them.

We need much better value for money and equipment that is much better suited for the job.

August 23, 2009 Posted by | News | , , | Leave a comment

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